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Below is a look at the past morbidity (how many people became sick) of what were once very common infectious diseases, and the current morbidity in the U.S. There’s no smallpox and no polio, almost no measles, dramatically less chickenpox (also known as varicella) and H. influenza (that’s not flu, but a bacteria that can cause deadly meningitis.

This should drive home how effective the common childhood inoculations, made by Merck, Sanofi, GlaxoSmithKline, and Novartis, are. The pneumococcal vaccine, made by Pfizer, has resulted in dramatic drops in meningitis and pneumonia. When Bristol-Myers Squibb lost a patent case related to its hepatitis B drug the other week, investors shrugged, because children here are vaccinated against hepatitis B, so this isn’t a big market. The pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine has been failing us, because immunity against it fades. But there’s still a dramatic reduction in what was once a common disease.

Update: To be clear, these data represent data collected in 2007 on past incidence of these diseases. This was published here, in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The current data are annualized cases for 2010, per thelink to the original data that I had included above.

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There’s simply no evidence that the increase in autism diagnoses is linked to vaccines. In fact, we’ve tested this idea carefully, because it was an idea worth testing, and found that there is no correlation. We can correlate some things as risk factors for autism, like whether the mother took folic acid before conception or early in pregnancy, the age of the father, and viral infections of the mother. None of these things appear to fully explain the increase either. Scientists are looking hard.

Oh, please. Correlation does not imply causation. The increasing rates of autism have a great deal more to do with better standards of diagnoses/higher diagnoses. Period. It just happens that children are vaccinated around the time that the symptoms of autism become clear, making it appear that the two events are connected.

The CDC does not say that vaccines are safe, it says they are generally safe. That is a huge difference for children with compromised immune systems. In fact the CDC warns against giving some vaccines to children with compromised immune systems. For the group of children with compromised immune systems the reactions and adverse effects are significantly different than the general population. If the studies lump the children with the compromised immune systems with the general population then the statistical significance may not be sufficient to show causation. However, when the population only includes children with compromised immune systems and vaccinations, the links are much more significant. Check CDC and read their warnings on the vaccinations. Remember that reactions to vaccinations can occur as much as two to three weeks after the vaccination. http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/Concerns/Autism/Index.html

Please see senior scientist Helen Ratajczak article in the Journal of Immunotoxicology entitled “theoretical aspects of autism: Causes–a review”, where she looks at the DNA in vaccines and the brain disorders associated with foreign DNA injected into people. A layperson may not be correct in specifically saying the vaccines CAUSE autism, but University of Pennsylvania Dr Brian Strom “says the prevaling medical opinion is that vaccines are scientifically linked to encephalophaty (BRAIN DAMAGE) but not scientifically linked to autism. ” see article http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31727_162-20049118-10391695.html Autism or Brain Damage, if my child is gets BRAIN DAMAGE from a vaccine, I am happy to call it autism or whatever…. it is still Brain Damage and I would have a child who has brain damage linked scientifically to vaccines.

If science could overcome some diseases,lots of work is yet expected from our medical professionals.We have not so far overpowered malaria which is causing havoc in great number of the 3rd world countries.Malaria has acquired some immunity from even the strongest drugs available in the markets.Dengue is another killer disease yet to be controlled.No universal vaccine exists to handle common prevalent colds/coughs the world over;every year vaccines given would take care of a particular strain of this common trouble,and that too there is no guarantee if a patient won’t be affected by coughs/colds.We may have reasons to gloat over what has been produced to cater to various diseases named in this thought provoking article yet much work needs to be done.Just some tiny mosquittoes alone continue to challenge our medical professionals and scientists or pharmaceutical sector.Its a paradox,killing big beasts is easier than eradicating menace of tiny creatures-mosquittoes,who continue to become bolder everytime remaing unbeatable!

Great graphic and a well written article. Also possible to see at a glance which are the most contagious diseases – chicken pox by miles! Another commenter here said that the morbidity rates for a number of these diseases (in particular diptheria) were already dropping prior to the vaccines being available. This is simply not true (and mentioned nowhere in the JAMA article cited) and is a common argument made by the anti-vaccination lobby. No point arguing with these people – they are beyond reason.

As a very quick recall: our body generates specific antibodies (they are part of our defense system) to specific bad particles (antigens) invading our body. If there are enough specific antibodies generated, they can recognize the specific antigens e.g. belonging to a virus and destroy the virus. To be protected you need many antibodies though. The generation of many antibodies is started by exposing our body to antigens (e.g. of an inactivated virus) which are entered into our body through a syringe containing some of the antigens. This is called vaccination and no question this principally works: The production of many antibodies can be proven in the blood (antibody-titer) and with enough antibodies we are protected against the virus! Of course, the world is not black or white only, but in principle I am happy that we have vaccines:-)

If I understand correctly, you are accounting for direct, acute deaths related to a diagnosed disease, right?

And how the stats look like when one would compare vaccination start data and current data to non-acute children ilnesses, which are not directly related to infections (including psychological, genetic and neurological disorders)?

This infographic is pretty clear. I’m glad to see more and more healthcare actors using infographics. This tool is frequently used by other industries and it could be really valuable for the health sector (with a more rigorous approach therefore).

Some design studios are even specialized on that, for example www.healthcareinfographics.com

You may wish to do some more research on one particular subset of these vaccines. The measles vaccine used from the late 50s thru the early 60s (1961?) is now being looked at as a possible cause of Lymphoma later in life. As one of those that fits the profile (Measles vaccine in 1959, Lymphoma in 1994), I find any investigation of these or related facts of extreme interest.